There are only two female characters in Hamlet, Gertrude and Ophelia. While both women are not blatantly mistreated in the play, they are not treated with respect. This is clear in how all the men refer to women as either evil, whorish, and/or stupid.
Gertrude, the queen and Hamlet's mother, is never by herself, she is either with Claudius or Hamlet; therefore it is implied that she does not have a thought of her own. Hamlet sees his mother as a slut for marrying his uncle so soon after his father's death. Not only did Gertrude move on quickly from his father, she is basically committing incest by marrying her dead husband's brother. Claudius and Hamlet both view her as a pawn, just an uneducated woman that knows nothing of political affairs.
Ophelia is introduced as a young and flirtatious girl, innocent and usable. She is specifically used by her family and the king and queen to see if Hamlet is really crazy in Act III, scene i, where everyone observes her and Hamlet's conversation. When Ophelia ends things with Hamlet, he takes back all his feelings for her and calls her a sinner and a whore. He begins to view her as and evil, wonton girl that uses make-up and pretty words to cover up the reality of the situation. Ophelia's brother, Lartes, also believes that she is a silly, slutty girl. Before he leaves for France, he asks her to stop her foolish behavior, controlling the way she acts.
Both women are small pieces in the larger political puzzle. Hamlet sees them as impure and wonton; sinners that do nothing to stop the evilness around them. In the end, both women die without proper Christian rights (confessing and last rights), which is the whole reason the ghost from earlier is in purgatory. Both women die as sinners without the chance of redemption, which strengthens Hamlet's view of the women.
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